THE AMUSEMENT PARK OF DOOM

[ex_provenance959]

THE AMUSEMENT PARK OF DOOM

This meme may contain triggers. Click through at your own risk.

Everyone loves an amusement park: the rides, the games, the sights and sounds and smells of cotton candy and popcorn. It is a child's dream, an adult's playtime, and a source of fun and entertainment for all who visit.

At least until the sun goes down.

Welcome to the amusement park of doom, where darkness brings a complete transformation. Beware the rides, brave soul, unless you care to risk more than an upset stomach. Venture not into the haunted house, unless you want to find more than you bargained for. And never, never touch the food.

HOW IT WORKS
♦ Post a comment with your character name, canon, preferences, etc. Are there options you do or don't want?
♦ Others will post and join you at the amusement park. You can use RNG to pick an option, or just choose one.
♦ Try to get out alive. Or don't, if that's your thing. I don't judge.

1. FOOD VENDORS - The popcorn, corn dogs, funnel cakes, and deep-fried Oreos may look and taste exactly the same as they do during the day, but once consumed can have some very interesting effects which vary from one person to another. Maybe it's like you just downed the most alcoholic drink ever. Or popped some LSD. Or maybe you just suddenly have to pee really, really bad and the amusement park no longer has any restrooms. Who knows?

2. MIDWAY GAMES - Instead of cheap plush toys, the prizes are now some really creepily realistic dolls whose eyes follow you as you move. And the targets for the shooting gallery look an awful lot like people, as well. The ring toss has to circle an assortment of upraised hands rather than pegs, and when you hit the circle on the "test your strength" game it doesn't send a metal ball to hit a bell - instead an arrow flies upwards into a box, and you win based on how much blood oozes from the hole afterwards. Be careful not to lose too often, though, because those prizes and targets have to come from somewhere....

3. ROLLER COASTER - Sure, the roller coaster may look fun, but once it gets going, it goes fast. Really, really fast. And you never know where it might suddenly stop - like, for example, while inverted at the very top of the loop-the-loop? If you make it back to the starting point you're a fortunate person indeed.

4. BUMPER CARS - As soon as the bumper cars start up all the bumpers vanish and cages spring up around edges of the floor. It's demolition derby time, folks, and only one person can walk away alive. Is it going to be you? Or can you not bring yourself to bump off the competition? (Be aware, there are often park employees in one of the other cars, just to encourage everyone to fight back.)

5. FERRIS WHEEL - As soon as darkness falls the creatures appear. The open-car ferris wheel is no longer positioned on a concrete platform, but in the middle of a swamp, and at the bottom point of the wheel the cars are half-submerged in the water - within reach of the various monstrous creatures that reside there. And there are massive birds that might decide to swoop down and pick out some of the prey held so helpfully up high for them.

6. LOG FLUME - The water in the log flume is no longer water - or, at least, it certainly doesn't act like it. If any splashes onto bare skin the skin begins to change, developing scales and fins; get enough of it on you and you might transform into a full-fledged water-dwelling monster. Good thing there are ponds in the amusement park, isn't it?

7. GRAVITRON - When the ride begins to spin the riders are pressed back against the walls, as is normal - but then creatures of any hideous type or shape start climbing out from the center, and for some reason they aren't affected by the centrifugal force. Never tried to fight zombies or werewolves while being held back by increased gravity? Well, now's your chance.

8. TRAIN - The train circles the outside of the amusement park, giving attendees a way to get from place to place without having to walk the entire way. It might seem normal enough at first, but as soon as it enters a tunnel...well, "there's no earthly way of knowing which direction they are going". Where you come out will certainly not be where you were intending to be. It could be anywhere, anywhen, and very, very likely unpleasant.

9. TUNNEL OF LOVE - As you travel farther into the tunnel, the light from behind you fades...and nothing replaces it. There is no light. No sound, but for the quiet wash of the water against the sides of your boat as you travel on. Or - is there? Was that a sound? Did you hear something? Or are you and your companion the only people who now exist?

If you want to go that route, there might be powerful aphrodisiacs in the air - but be careful, because if you tip the oddly unstable boat you might end up in the water with who knows what creatures lurking down there. Or worse, whatever is waiting to either side of the water-filled track.

10. HAUNTED HOUSE - You only thought those ghouls and ghosts were animatronic. Maybe they were during the day, but now? They're after you. You could go upstairs, but there's a poltergeist in the attic. You could go into the basement, but there are even more terrifying things that lurk down in the darkness. And none of the doors or windows to the outside will open. Enjoy.

11. WANDERING - Maybe you aren't around any particular rides or attractions, and are just wandering the pathways of the amusement park. You could still encounter some of the victims of the other rides, the twisted and deformed creatures that were once costumed mascots or clowns, or get too close to the shadowed alleyways, ponds, or overhangs that house monsters that would love to draw you in close for a visit. Or, you never know, the next parade coming down the main street might be zombies. How fast can you shamble?

Also, of note is the fact that those who linger a bit too long in the amusement park might find themselves undergoing a few changes....

12. OTHER - Is there another ride that strikes your fancy? Another dark fate you want to have in store for your character? By all means, go for it!


original meme credit enthymeme

Comments

Stiles Stilinski | Teen Wolf

[ingoodcompany]

[ ooc: can start, open to most but 9.

That said, Stiles may well be hanging out near the roller coaster which should have been condemned years ago. ]

[barclay]

[ ooc: Are you up for giving these two another go? We can roll off the last thread we did if so or start new.

If you're interested and would like to narrow down the prompts I'd be happy to start us off. ]

[ingoodcompany]

[ A previous attempt to get ahead of Ray had gotten them an empty motel room, and scraps to show for it - pieces of half burnt paper and maps of different places across the states. This park had been the closest, closed down a couple of years ago during the recession, and it had been sitting empty ever since.

What would have been an elaborate fountain is covered in old graffiti, marking the center of the courtyard just beyond the entrance, and the various stores that looked like promising places to start searching.

Though looking around the place, Stiles wouldn't have minded if the electricity still ran in this place, it would have cut through the gloom to have the lights on; and make things easier to see. ]

[barclay]

[ He was surprised enough when Stiles agreed to investigate his leads; more surprised still when the agent agreed to take him along. He still wasn't trusted, the tracking bracelet on his ankle being proof enough for that, but at least Stiles was giving him this chance to prove himself, to clear his name.

The first lead had been almost a total bust - a total bust, he'd figured, until Stiles had found the maps. They weren't a perfect tool for predicting where Chucky would have gone, but Stiles had seemed satisfied with them, and he'd worked out things by studying them Andy wouldn't have even guessed. Even without obvious markings, a finger scrape had been enough for him to track a rough pattern.

And so they're here. Back here, in Andy's case, because he's been to this park before. It was where he killed Chucky the last time, in fact, tossed him into a giant fan and watched his doll body get sliced into kibble. Even back then it'd been a creepy place, and that was when it had visitors and attendants. Now it's squatting as dead and cold as a hush, tenanted only by a silence so palpable it throbs in his ears. ]

There. That roller coaster over there, the one with the skull mountain. That's the spot where it happened.

[ingoodcompany]

It wouldn't be the first time a criminal went back to a scene of their crime.

[ Taken Andy along certainly wasn't an altruistic decision, even if he's made sure everyone who's with them had tac vests on. Given the lack of progress - someone with more personal experience could pick up on clues that would have been dismissed otherwise.

Squinting up at the coaster - it's peaks are easy to see from pretty much anywhere in the park. ]

I'll rather save that for later, and it'll be a good spot to meet up at. [ Not that he has any intention of splitting up. ] I just want to check that there aren't any surprises that could come at us here first.

[ You'ld think the place would have more noise, not the eerie silence that seems to eat up everything. ]

[barclay]

It's not just that. I think he might need to come back to these places. For his ritual.

[ He long ago gave up trying to make his story sound sane. He confessed what he knew, every crazy detail, and Stiles is investigating it anyway. He can't ask for anything more than that, not when the tale he had to tell him was one of a loa-worshipping serial killer using voodoo to jump from body to body, and, oh yeah, might be a doll too.

Scanning the other areas, just because he's really not looking forward to going back to that coaster - once was more than enough for him. ]

A lot of this stuff wasn't here before. They must have built it later before folding up. [ If he's going to be expected to be a guide here, he wants to make it clear right off what he knows and what he doesn't.

Jerking his head over to the midway on their right, meaningfully. ]

There were tents there, before, where the people who ran this place were operating out of. [ And then, almost to himself: ] ... weird how all this stuff got left behind.

[ There's a funhouse he sees further along the path too, the doors hanging mockingly open, inviting him and his new friends to step on in and have some fun. ]

[ingoodcompany]

I don't like the new additions, it makes this place look like maze. I'm worried about how they might be connected, since we won't have the advantage of knowing where we're going, exactly.

[ Beckoning dark doorways are always a good idea, which would be why Stiles starts towards it after peering into a couple of the other storefronts - there are signs that there are rats and drifters who wouldn't have stayed long - if at all. He wouldn't have, even with no better choice. ]

If he's been back, other incidents could have happened. Easier to get rid of it, forget it all then to drag it all with you.

Especially when renovations didn't help the first time around.

[barclay]

So I'm guessing that means your department never found any records on this place closing down or anything like that.

[ He lets out a breath quietly and tries not to think about how rotten that smells. Stiles at least seems to still have a plan, so Andy follows him, keeping close and glancing to either side of them at the storefronts as they go. They look awfully weathered for a place that's only been closed a few years, and it's hard not to shake the eerie sensation of being watched. He tells himself it's just the junk left behind making him jumpy, the ratty stuffed animals and eerie shooting-gallery targets. ]

If there's still squatters anywhere, they're probably in here. [ A sideways glance over, just to reassure himself that at least one of them is going in armed. As much as he tells himself there's nothing to worry about but hobos, he can't shake the feeling that hobos are the least of their worries.

He's never been inside a funhouse before, but he's seen enough television renditions to know what to expect - rows of mirrors, all with distorted reflections of whoever might pass by them. That's not what he sees at all though.

Reacting like someone that's been jolted by a cattle prod, he takes a halting step back the way they came, back towards the door, and puts a hand to his mouth. Instead of reflections of him or Stiles, what he sees are reflection of Chucky's past victims, one after another. There's Marge, his mother's friend that was pushed to her death, and Phil Simpson, his foster father until Chucky slit his throat.

Swallowing the rising taste of bile in his throat, he forces himself to look away from the mirrors and back to Stiles. ]

Are you seeing them too? You're seeing something there, right?

[ His look, at least, makes Andy thinks so. Maybe not Chucky's victims, maybe something or someone else altogether, but even that would be better than nothing at all. ]

[ingoodcompany]

The park never filed for bankruptcy or anything; the owners just decided to abandon the place and disappear. I don't think even a squatter would stay long in this place.

[ He'd pulled out a penlight, looking along the floor to see which section was mirror and which was not, when Andy's words causes him to look up - the added light distorting the images making their wounds stand out vividly.

It's grotesque. ]

Are those recordings? [ Speaking quietly. How would they be inside the mirrors otherwise? Reaching out a hand, he knocks against the glass.

The images blink out. ]

We never looked into it, but was he good with technology? Because this really feels like we've been set up.

[barclay]

... Recordings? [ Glancing over at Stiles, uncomprehending, until the agent steps up and raps his fist against one of the mirrors.

There's no slow fade, the images are just gone, like a TV that's been turned off. Recordings. He breathes again. ]

No. He wasn't. He died before PCs and cell phones were even a thing, and he never used tech like this in his murders before. This isn't him. Or... if it is, he's not alone.

[There's laughter then, a high, demented madman's cackle. It freezes the blood in Andy's bones and, before he can stop himself, he reaches for Stiles's arm. ]

New body. [ Whispering the words urgently, more urgently than he's ever said anything in his life. ] Has to be. That's him, but his voice, it's different somehow. Not a doll's voice.

[ Just as he says that, the images come back on. Not dead bodies this time. Now they're Good Guy dolls, all of them with their face twisted into that sneer that's haunted him for so long, holding a motley assortment of weapons from reflection to reflection. Knives. Little hatchets. Mallets, like the kind someone would use in one of those "test your strength" games.

And they're all getting larger, as if walking towards them, as if moving to climb right out from the mirrors and come after them both. ]

[ingoodcompany]

We're getting out of here. [ He walks quickly. It doesn't matter if he's jumping at shadows, the images are too realistic. (And the place has had him on edge since they'd passed the main gates.)

Not that the doors they came through are open when they reach them; shut, and blockaded from the outside, as Stiles finds out when he tries to shove one of them open again. ]

He's got to have help, he can't be in here and out there at the same time - not even if he's got everything automated and the wiring hidden.

[ A thunking noise is heard as the overhead lights come on making it nearly impossible to tell where the mirrors are not, their contents seeming to follow them pointy end first.

He glances upwards, at least there isn't much room for someone to hide along the rafters. ]

I hate the way we're mice in a maze right now, assuming he's even left us a way out of here.

[barclay]

You're the boss. [ And right now, he's cowardly grateful for it, to have someone else making that call. There's too much history here for him to think totally straight right now, part of him wants to stay and fight just to be sure it's really over this time. (And if he gets killed in the process, oh well.)

Following Stiles back to the entrance they came in at, he tries his hand forcing the doors open after the other young man does, grunting when he can't get it either. No dice. Someone must have sealed them from outside while they were messing around in here. ]

He never had help before, he always worked alone. Who the hell would be crazy enough to help him now?

[ He flinches when the overhead lights come on, expecting the worst. It's not the worst, but it's definitely not good. It's like the mirrors are everywhere now, creating an effect straight out of Escher's darkest nightmares.

There's that demented cackle again, and this time, a taunt that comes with it:]

Having fun yet, boys and girls?

[ Though he tries to block it out, to shake it off, one look at Andy is enough to see that he's rattled.]

We've got to find a way out, we're dead if we stay here. Maybe if you use your gun, shoot out the mirrors--

[There's a sudden burst of pain and he screams, stumbling, clutching his already-bleeding ankle. Something cut him just now, almost hamstrung him. A tiny hand, holding a not-at-all tiny knife. Mouth frozen in a snarl, the Good Guy doll charges Stiles, moving to stab through one of his boots, to pin him by one foot to the floor.]

[ingoodcompany]

[ Andy's screaming distracts him from the doll; the puppet managing to stab down into his toes, but is sent flying into a mirror as Stiles recoils with a shout.

It's caught on an axe blade before it falls down again. (He's investing in steel toed boots when they make it out of here.) ]

Sad fact in life - you can always find a person who will help out someone who's more powerful than them. And he did run a cult.

[ Fuck, his foot hurts, though he's not as bad off as Andy. He offers a hand to help steady him - other hand unholstering his gun and firing two shots at the doll's head.

Breaking the mirrors is a good idea, though he'll run out of bullets long before they're out of mirrors. ]

Think you can grab something from them?